


The Way I Love

by juuten



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Angst and Humor, Character Death, Chef Kim Mingyu, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mafia AU, Mafia Boss Hoshi, Murder Mystery, Organized Crime, Secret Identity, guess what happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:01:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juuten/pseuds/juuten
Summary: Hoshi is the most fearsome geondal (mafia) leader in the Gyeonggi region of South Korea, but to his husband Kim Mingyu, he’s sweet and innocent Kwon Soonyoung - a book writer who spends most of his days at home due to his “poor and unstable” health. When Mingyu accidentally witnesses a murder, an investigator recruits him to help uncover the identity of the Gyeonggi Boss and bring him to justice once and for all.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 50





	1. Fear

“Fuck!!!” Hoshi curses as his eyes narrow at his own reflection in the mirror. There’s a cut on the bridge of his nose - courtesy of Shownu’s diamond cuff links. The bastard had decided to show up at the Carat Club earlier that afternoon, _uninvited_ by all accounts, to start a brawl, and it was just Hoshi’s luck that Shownu would challenge him over control of his territory on the day of _his wedding anniversary_. 

Goddamn selfish prick.

The fight had ended in a bloody mess (mostly Shownu’s blood - all over his nice floor), and Hoshi thought he’d been careful not to let the rivaling mob leader leave any marks on his face. But fuck, there it was staring back at him in the mirror - a stupid little cut from those stupid little cuff links that scratched over his face during their fight. 

Hoshi hisses from the pain on his side, removing the ice pack he’d been pressing against it to inspect the damage. The black and purple bruises look atrocious, but at least they’re easier to hide. How the hell is he going to explain the fucking hideous cut on his nose to his husband?!

“DK!!!” he cries out, and his assistant runs into the bathroom with a black plastic bag from the convenience store right across the street. 

DK dumps the contents into the sink, and Hoshi sneers at one specifically offending item.

“Are you _fucking kidding me_?! Pororo???!!!” 

His assistant tears through the packaging and deadpans at his boss. “It was either that or Gudetama, hyungnim,” he explains, as his fingers press the yellow bandaid on top of the fresh cut. 

Hoshi grunts at the sting and swats his hands away. “Fuck, DK! I swear I’m fucking cutting your sorry excuse for a dick off and feeding it to the dogs!!!”

His hand instinctively reaches for the gun in his holster, only to recall that his conniving, son of a bitch of an assistant had already confiscated it before they even left the car. So his eyes quickly sweep the room for the closest weapon available, and it ends up being his own belt. However, DK snatches it away a millisecond before he could grab it from the shower floor.

“No time for games, hyungnim!” The assistant swiftly discards all the medical supplies and bandages littered around them, cleaning the entire bathroom as he goes. “Your husband is already in the lobby as we speak.”

Hoshi’s eyes widen, and he immediately starts changing out of his slacks. “Shit, shit shit!!!” 

He throws his bloodied clothes at his assistant, and DK tosses a white sweater and a pair of navy shorts back at him. Hoshi slides on the comfortable garments as he multi-tasks and rubs off the kohl lining his eyes with a make up wipe. 

The bathroom is spotless by the time DK hands him an apron to finish his homebody look, and all that's left to do is run his hands through his gelled up hair to mess it up a bit. 

His assistant carefully scans the geondal leader from head to toe one last time, making sure there are no other marks visible, before gently handing Hoshi a red box. 

The mob boss purses his lips and raises a brow. “Eighteen karat rose gold with three diamonds?” 

DK nods once, hands gliding on the surface of the iPad in his hand and sorting through the surveillance cameras. “Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me, hyungnim?”

Hoshi scowls and puts the box into his pocket. “Your Pororo fetish _is_ making me question my faith in you…”

The assistant glares back at his boss. “Now’s not the time, hyungnim. Mingyu-hyung took the stairs today. We have exactly 1 minute and 7 seconds before he enters the apartment.”

He holds the iPad up, and the live video footage shows Mingyu going up the last four flights of stairs to their floor.

Hoshi rushes out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, where the scent of freshly grilled hanwoo and steamed rice is swirling in the air. 

In the corner of the living room, The8 is blindfolding and tying up the cook they ~~kidnapped~~ hired to prepare the feast. He looks at his boss with a slightly questioning look, lips ever so tempted to curl in amusement. 

The mafia boss growls before The8 can say anything. “I didn’t fucking choose this stupid bandaid!” 

“Reel the language in, hyungnim. You’re supposed to cute and adorable now,” the Chinese assassin reminds him with a teasing smirk, before throwing the cook over his shoulder to make their leave. “ _And Soonyoungie never ever curses at his friends._ ”

Like a switch, the Hoshi’s face immediately changes into a soft and pleasant expression. He puts on a terrifyingly sweet and cheerful smile, giggling as he takes on an innocent persona. “And _Xiao Hao Hao_ knows better than to _fucking piss his boss off_. Oops! I didn’t mean to say f-word. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today.”

Hoshi continues tittering with fake laughter, smiling too widely and squinting his eyes tight to replicate the hands of a clock at 10:10 - which Mingyu absolutely adores when he does it. He merrily skips to the stove and inspects the food he’s about to serve his husband, puffing his cheeks out as he daintily takes the plastic off the bowls of banchan.

Even his body language is a complete 180 from how he was acting just seconds before, and The8 wants to gag at the overly exaggerated cuteness his boss is emanating. He much more prefers Hoshi yelling and threatening them than this sickening display called Kwon Soonyoung. Loving, sweet, and caring - the perfect househusband to perfectly match one clueless Kim Mingyu.

He’s been going back and forth between his two personas ever since he met the tall and tanned cook three years ago. Hoshi had fallen in love at first sight, and in a desperate attempt to win Kim Mingyu over, he came up with a new identity, completely different from his brash and awful personality. 

Fake.

Forced.

So untrue to the real him.

“ _Your ball-and-chain_ has to be a fucking psycho to feel any sort of attraction to you acting like _this_ ,” The8 comments as he tosses the cook out the window, where DK catches the tied up boy and takes the emergency stairs down to their getaway car. 

Soonyoung tilts his head to the side, pouting in the most endearing way possible. “I don’t know what you mean, Hao Hao. Mingyu’s the farthest thing from a psycho…”

Out of nowhere, he deflty throws a meat cleaver at the assassin, and The8 doesn’t even flinch as the large knife impales itself into the window frame - mere inches away from his face. Instead, he rolls his eyes at the geondal boss’s attempt to scare him. As if Hoshi hadn’t been throwing sharp objects at him since they were both in middle school.

_Fucking asshole._

“Call me tomorrow, hyungnim!” he takes the knife with him and jumps out the window, just as the front door opens.

Mingyu (and all his glorious perfection) grins as he enters the living room. He's swiftly greeted with a pair of arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss.

But this is not the typical peck he receives after work everyday. This kiss is more sensual and deeper than usual. (Fighting gets Hoshi's blood boiling, and _fuck_ Hoshi is ready to get fucked as hard as possible.)

“Miss me, hyung?” he whispers against Soonyoung’s lips when they part.

The shorter, blond male chuckles and kisses him again. “You have no idea…”

He kisses his way down Mingyu’s neck, all the while pulling him into the apartment. His hands start unbuttoning his husband’s dress shirt, but Mingyu stops him before things can get steamier.

“Hyung, what about dinner? You’ve been cooking for me all day long.” He intertwines their hands together and chortles when he feels Soonyoung suck on the flushed skin of his neck. “I came home early so I could taste your cooking…”

Oh, right. Soonyoung’s been slaving away on the stove all day ( _supposedly_ ), so he could make Mingyu the perfect dinner for their special celebration. He had to dedicate an entire day to cooking, because all he knows how to make is toast with butter (actual fact), and the best way to not burn their apartment down was by going at all the recipes slowly.

Supposedly.

He's just glad Mingyu's believes this BS.

The short blond doesn’t reply until he’s formed a hickey on Mingyu’s neck. “How about sex before dinner?”

_Because he has priorities…_

“How about dinner, then I’ll give you a massage, and then we can have as much sex as you want tonight?”

Soonyoung looks up at him and juts his lower lip out and puffs his cheeks. “Hmph! Fine then. It’s not like you’re missing out on anything _with my cooking_.”

After all, Mingyu _is_ the real chef between the two of them (and the cook The8 ~~kidnapped~~ hired is practically a noob compared to his amazing hubby, so the food isn’t gonna be _that great_ ). Soonyoung doesn’t do much besides read and type away on his computer all day… _supposedly_ …

“Aigoo, hyung, what happened to your nose?!” Mingyu coos and cups his cheeks with both hands, frowning at the bandaid on Soonyoung’s face. “Let me see!”

The blond freezes for a second and hurriedly turns away before his husband can peel the bandaid off. “No, go away! It’s just an ugly pimple!”

Mingyu chases after him and grabs him around the waist, lifting him up from behind. “But I need to make sure my cute little baby tiger is okay…” 

“Ya! Put me down, you giant terrorist!” 

They topple onto the couch, and Mingyu pins the blond down with his own body. He only needs one hand to encompass both of Soonyoung’s wrists, and his other hand reaches for the yellow bandaid as the shorter male struggles against his hold.

Soonyoung whines and growls cutely at his husband, thrashing in an attempt to escape his captor, but he doesn’t try too hard, because _Soonyoung stays home all day and Soonyoung is weak and sickly_.

“Pabo-gyu, you’re hurting meeee,” he mewls, even though Mingyu’s grip doesn’t hurt even the slightest bit. 

But the taller male eases off of him right away and apologizes in alarm. “Hyungie, I’m so sorry!”

The blond sits up and protectively covers his nose with his hands. “Pabo-gyu is being so mean to me!”

“Aniya!” Mingyu refutes and envelops Soonyoung into an embrace. He buries the side of his face into a head of blonde locks, nuzzling into the hair in adoration. “I’m sorry, hyungie…can you forgive me?”

He huffs like a spoiled child and haughtily raises his chin. “Leave my Pororo bandaid alone, and I’ll be merciful…”

Mingyu guilelessly beams at his blond lover.

“What bandaid? I have no idea what you’re talking about, hyung!” he says before kissing him on the nose.

* * *

Soonyoung knows what he’s doing is wrong. 

He knows that the foundation of any relationship is trust and honesty (which is funny because Mingyu thinks theirs is as good as solid). But their relationship has neither one. He’s been feeding Mingyu lies since day one, and frankly, he doesn’t even deserve a fraction of his husband’s trust. 

But he’s so used to lying it’s become second nature to him, and he’s already far too invested in their relationship to go back now. 

Being a mob boss isn’t a simple 9 to 5 job. He has enemies who would be more than willing to take what he loves and use his weaknesses against him. He’s thoroughly made sure that none of his adversaries are aware of his double life, and only a select few of his most trusted men actually know that Mingyu exists. But the threat is still there, and if anything ever happened to his beloved husband…

Soonyoung winces and wills away the negative thoughts as he stares into Mingyu’s eyes. They’re both naked in bed and taking a short break after the two rounds of sex they just had.

“What’s wrong, hyung?” the dark-haired male asks. Some of his shoulder-length tresses have fallen out of the bun he retied on top of his head, but his hair still doesn’t even look close to disheveled. In fact, it just makes him look like a crown prince who'd jumped out of those cheesy Manhwa books. Mingyu has always been so effortlessly beautiful, with his smile and face and wide shoulders. He wonders why his husband never tried becoming a model or an actor. 

Soonyoung tucks the strands away, sighing. “Just thinking about how important you are to me…”

Mingyu smiles and takes his husband’s hand into his own, stamping light kisses onto his palm and fingers. “You’re thinking way too hard for someone who’s already orgasmed twice.”

He feels Mingyu’s hand slip in between the sheets, moving past the taut muscles on his abdomen all the way down to his groin. Rough fingers wrap around his dick, massaging it back into hardness, and Soonyoung’s head falls back onto a pillow. 

A soft moan escapes his throat, but sudden realization shocks him out of his slow descent into rapture.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot!”

Soonyoung untangles himself from the blankets, leaving his husband adorably confused on their bed, and dives into the pocket of his discarded shorts on the floor. He procures the red box DK had given him earlier and shyly presents it to Mingyu.

“Happy Anniversary…” he says timidly, opening the box and revealing a rose gold Cartier Love Bracelet with three diamonds embedded into the alternating groves. 

Mingyu is utterly taken by surprise, mouth ajar from the gift in front of him. “Hyung! Are you seriously giving me a _Cartier bracelet_?”

“With three diamonds! One for each year we’ve been married…” Soonyoung explains. He takes the bracelet out of the box, unlocks it with the screw driver, and clasps it around Mingyu’s wrist. 

It’s a perfect fit, near impossible to remove without the screwdriver, and Soonyoung makes a mental note to give DK a bonus this month.

His husband stares at the rose gold and the glittering gems in awe. “I…hyung, I- Thank you! Thank you…but how did you afford this? This has to be at least 10,000,000 won!”

The blond innocently and meekly curls his lips. “I saved up from the books I’ve been selling. It’s not much, but I wanted this year to be special. You’ve always talked about buying a Cartier bracelet someday, so I knew I had to get it for you this year.”

Mingyu peers at the bracelet in excitement, but the smile on his lips wavers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything this year… The restaurant is just starting out, and I know I can make more money once business is steadi-”

“Pabo-gyu, you don’t have to get me anything!” Soonyoung interjects. The last thing he wants is his hubby to be upset on their anniversary. “Just worry about your restaurant for now, okay? Hyung can take care of the both of us.”

No mafia leader could ever become a Gyeonggi boss without money, and Hoshi has _a lot_ of money to spare. Soonyoung, on the other hand, _supposedly_ makes just enough to feed two people every month from his book royalties - which isn’t much, because it’s not like he wrote _Harry Potter_ or _Twilight_. So as much as he wants to shower Mingyu with expensive purchases, Soonyoung has to reel in all the temptation so his husband wouldn’t start asking more questions. On certain occasions like these though, he just has to give Mingyu at least a fraction of what Hoshi can buy.

Mingyu’s balmy expression slowly fades into distraught. “But w-what about your medicines, hyung? I couldn’t possibly use up your money when you need to refill your prescriptions every month, and-and you already pay for our utility bills…and the rent…and our food-” 

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about all that okay?” he rubs a thumb back and forth over Mingyu’s cheek to soothe him, smiling up at his lover. “You can take me on a nice European cruise when your restaurant gets its third Michelin star.”

His husband has always been passionate about cooking, and after years of learning about different cuisines and working under many culinary experts, Mingyu had finally scrounged up enough savings to start his own restaurant. Soonyoung, of course, had been a hundred percent supportive from the start, even if building the restaurant had drained Mingyu’s savings and they had to put up with subpar living conditions. 

Being with the love of his life is so much better than sleeping in a 5-star hotel every night.

Mingyu sadly looks away. “I don’t know how long that’ll take, hyung…”

He immediately recognizes that forlorn stare. It’s the same one on Mingyu’s face whenever he thinks about all the illnesses Soonyoung _supposedly_ has and how there’s a high chance he may _supposedly_ die before he turns 40.

“I just wish I could give you more, hyung. You deserve everything the world has to offer…” 

He wishes he hadn’t made up all his health problems back when they started dating, but he needed a good excuse as to why he couldn’t go out and work like a normal person. He should’ve have stopped at _introverted_ _book writer_ and called it a day, but no, he just had to be a dramatic bitch. So now, Mingyu is always worrying about his health, and he knows that Mingyu feels incredibly guilty about his inability to provide for his husband and the ridiculous amount of medication Soonyoung _supposedly_ needs. He doesn’t want Mingyu to feel that way any longer, but he can’t just come out and say, “ _Mingyu-yah! I’m cured of every disease I’ve ever had! Yes, even my Osteogenesis Imperfecta is gone! I know it’s impossible to cure, but here I am - a living, breathing, medical miracle!_ ” 

His tall and tanned lover may be a clueless idiot at times, but Mingyu’s not _that_ dumb.

It’s no wonder his nonexistent books aren’t selling well. He’s awful at making legitimate plot lines.

“I only need you in my life, and I would be perfectly happy,” the blond responds whole-heartedly, his words overflowing veracity and affection. “I just want you to be happy…and stay with me forever…”

_With me. With Soonyoung. With Hoshi…_

_Would you stay with me if you knew the truth?_

_If you knew what kind of person I really am?_

_If you knew about Hoshi and what he does everyday?_

Mingyu chuckles softly and grins through teary eyes. “I already married you, hyung. You’re stuck with me for the rest of your life.”

He tackles the blond onto the bed and kisses him deeply, pouring all of his love into the meshing of their lips. Soonyoung kisses him back, licks at his tongue, and nips at his lower lip. 

The heat in his navel returns, and warm blood pools into his dick. He can feel Mingyu’s erection press against his stomach, heavy and hard as it pushes against his skin. Soonyoung’s hole, still loose from the past two rounds they had, twitches in anticipation. He breaks their kiss, eyes darkened in lust, and shamelessly whispers, “Fuck me.”

His husband hurriedly spreads lube over himself, before folding Soonyoung’s legs over his shoulders, and with one swift motion, Mingyu buries himself into his blond lover up to the hilt. 

Soonyoung’s breath hitches from how rough Mingyu penetrated him, and his cock leaks at the vulgar thought of his lover vehemently wrecking his asshole yet again. _God_ , he can never ever get enough of this. He's addicted to sex with his husband. He's never going to stop wanting it.

“M-Mingyu, fuck me harder this time.”

But the dark-haired man doesn’t oblige to his request. Instead, he keeps his rhythmic thrusts going and steadies his breathing. “But…ah, h-hyung…I don’t want to…give you another bruise…”

_Oh, fuck._

He nervously looks down at the side of his torso, blue and black and all Shownu’s fault, and curses himself for forgetting to hide the bruises. 

His eyes flutter up in panic to see Mingyu apologetically staring back at him, and Soonyoung splutters his reply without thinking first. 

“T-That wasn’t y-you, ahhh yes!!!” he moans out breathlessly as the head of Mingyu’s cock brushes at his prostate. 

He throws his head back, elbows digging into the duvet, and his eyes roll upwards in ecstasy. He needs more though. He needs Mingyu to fuck him harder. 

But the thrusting stops, and he opens his mouth to cry out in indignation. But Soonyoung immediately regrets looking up the moment he sees his husband’s enraged face.

“ _Who was it then?_ ” Mingyu asks, voice low and seeping with anger, and his eyes are black and hungry for cold murder. “ _Tell me._ ”

Soonyoung’s cheeks flush in bright red. Mingyu has never used this tone of voice with him, and he’s both scared and aroused at the same time.

“N-No one. It…it was the d-doorknob,” is what he comes up with, because he’s definitely not going to tell Mingyu that another man had attempted to beat him into a bloody pulp for his territory just hours ago. 

Mingyu furrows his brows at him, but the lie seems to work. The dark-haired man resumes his thrusts. This time, though, he goes at it slower and shallower, and it’s making Soonyoung go crazy.

“Mingyu, _please_ ,” he begs, choking on his own spit as his balls tighten and his body aches for more pleasure. " _Please, please, please go faster. Fuck me harder. Please, anything besides this!_ "

His husband is unrelenting.

“You would tell me, right?” Mingyu says, as he tilts forward and grasps tightly onto Soonyoung’s thighs. “You’d tell me if anyone ever tried to hurt you.”

No, he wouldn’t. 

Mingyu shouldn’t ever have to worry about him getting hurt.

But the blond frantically nods, because he needs to cum and he needs to get fucked harder right now. “Yes, yes, I will…”

His fists clench at the sheets, nearly ripping the delicate fabric, when Mingyu finally yields and pounds into him harder. 

Soonyoung falls completely onto his back. His arms and legs feel closer to jelly than actual limbs, and they’re getting weaker and weaker as his prostate succumbs to a blissful hammering. To be fair though, he’s usually not this feeble, but after a fist fight and two rounds of cock riding, he has the right to be exhausted.

The bed is creaking from Mingyu mercilessly rocking back and forth into him, and Soonyoung just takes it like the cheap whore he is for his husband. He’s ready to feel sore and ruined in the morning, ass aching and tender as he sucks Mingyu off before work. He wants to feel so thoroughly fucked that DK would have to carry him to the car tomorrow and move him around in a wheelchair. That's how hard he wants it, and that's how hard Mingyu is giving it to him.

His lover reaches for one of his perked nipples, fiddling and pinching like it’s one of his toys - _his property_. Soonyoung would never let anyone think of him in such a way, but when it comes to sex, he’s down to be Mingyu’s plaything. It’s nice being dominated in bed. In his geondal, he's the boss, but in bed, he's Mingyu's _bitch -_ ready and willing to lick, swallow, gag, and take it in whichever hole his husband wants to use. He splutters out more curse words and sobs from all the sweet abuse being imposed on his body. 

“You’re so lewd, hyung,” Mingyu remarks as Soonyoung continues deteriorating into a moaning mess with only the dirtiest thoughts running through his mind.

All his nerve-endings are on fire even though he already came twice. His ass just feels so fucking amazing and hot, and it didn’t even matter anymore if Mingyu’s still aiming for his prostate because just having him slide through his insides feels _so, so good_. 

Mingyu squirts more lube into his palm, then grabs Soonyoung’s cock and starts pumping.

The warmth and tingling spreads over the shaft in a matter of seconds, and the blond realizes that the lubricant smells different from the usual strawberry one they use. This one smells like pineapple and feels a lot stickier, and it's making _every stroke and every thrust_ feel insanely good.

“D-Did you switch the-” his words get caught in his throat at one particularly hard thrust that makes him see stars.

He’s so close to cumming, and it’s not fair. He wants more, but his nerves are on overdrive, and he has to hold himself back because he doesn’t want to fall over the edge yet.

“Do you like it, hyung? Someone from work recommended it,” Mingyu says salaciously, pumping and thrusting at the most perfect pace to drive Soonyoung up the wall. “He said it’s supposed to make you feel more _sensitive_.”

Sensitive is an understatement, because his dick and his ass have never felt this great before. 

“I-I can’t, ahh! M-Mingyu, I can’t- I can’t…ah ahhhh!!!” 

Mingyu groans and bites at the inside of his thighs. “Hyung, your ass is squeezing my dick so hard.”

He can barely even register what his husband is saying anymore. His ears are pounding, and his back is arching from the pleasure shooting up his spine. Mingyu is ripping him apart and ruining his insides, and he doesn't ever want it to stop. Gibberish is the only thing coming out of his filthy, moaning mouth, and he moves his hips unthinkingly, recklessly, and despairingly as his body reaches the peak of hedonism. 

Soonyoung cums sooner than he wants to, muscles seizing as a strong and paralyzing orgasm takes over. His vision blurs and darkens at the edges. His toes curl, and his skin ignites in fiery exaltation, the heat rising out of every pore and dispersing saccharine gratification along the way. His insides clench and gape around the dick fucking him through his climax. His reddened cock gushes violently, and he leaves a mess on his lover’s hand and all over his stomach, white dribbling down his torso and staining the duvet. There’s a ringing in his ears once he’s finally done shuddering, and that usually happens when he experiences an orgasm as strong as the one he just had.

Mingyu follows soon after, gasping as his last few thrusts send him down the same spiraling maelstrom of pleasure. He bends down and kisses his husband once more as he gives in to his own release, riding it out through erratic thrusts and rolling tongues. He doesn’t pull out until his dick stops pulsating and spurting cum.

The blond feels every throb inside him and sighs once he’s empty again, already missing the sensation of being so full to the point of tearing.

He shivers when Mingyu holds his legs apart to watch hot cum drip out of his hole, and for a second, Soonyoung thinks his ass is about to get mauled again from the way his husband is staring. (He's not going to object to that, but he needs a break to fully enjoy the experience again...and with that new lube for him to enjoy, Soonyoung already knows what position he wants next.) 

But Mingyu puts his legs down gently and smiles fondly at him instead. 

“Happy Anniversary, Soonyoung…” he says, before wrapping his arms around Soonyoung and diving down for another searing kiss.

“ _I love you_ ,” the blond mumbles breathily against his lover’s lips, feeling his chest constrict from overwhelming sentiment. “ _I love you so much…_ ”

Despite all the lies he’s ever told, Soonyoung has never lied about how he feels for Mingyu…

…and he hopes that one day, if Mingyu ever finds out who he truly is, that one small truth would be big enough to make him stay…


	2. Poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super spontaneous. Never thought I would write a murder-mystery-mafia AU but here we are. The word ‘supposedly’ is thrown around here a lot. Hope you guys enjoy!

Hoshi saunters into the room with his head held high. Nobody utters a word, and everyone remains standing as they watch him take his seat. Still, no one dares to move, because the mafia boss hasn’t given them permission to do anything yet.

He’d chosen to dress poshly today since he was in a good mood this morning. Black Testoni dress shoes, grey Balenciaga plaid blazer, blue Balmain jeans, and a striking yellow sweater to compliment his Pororo bandaid (because he can be approachable) are the clothing items that completed his personally-chosen wardrobe for the day. 

But his mood has since then declined, and Hoshi is no longer feeling upbeat, because a _certain someone_ had the gall to request an audience with him on the day of his meeting with the Hoseo underbosses. 

The8 is in the farthest corner with his hands in his pockets, pointedly observing the three guests in the room - all sons of Gwandong money, dressed in black suits and Patek watches. 

_Kim Jungwoo_ \- heir to the WIN Corporation and son of business conglomerate, Kim Jinwoo. _Kim Dongyoung_ \- brother of Senator Gong Myun. And _Mark Lee_ \- a wealthy, Canadian-Korean entrepreneur who sold his an app called Dream to the NCT Group Holdings for 12 trillion won. 

DK locks the doors and takes his position next to Hoshi. His gaze lands Dongyoung, and his eyes narrow dangerously. “He brought a knife, hyungnim.”

The red-haired boy stiffens automatically and tries to hide his shocked expression with dismal success. 

The mob boss stares blankly at him before casually nodding in DK’s direction. His assistant pulls out a gun, and the three men immediately cower.

“Please, please, don’t shoot! We’re not here to start anything,” Dongyoung snivels, wincing and raising his hands in complete surrender. 

The8 snorts and crosses his arms. “You shouldn’t have brought a weapon into hyungnim’s house then. Such disrespect.”

“I know, I’m sorry! I forgot I even had it,” Dongyoung claims, sifting through his coat pockets for the Victorinox swiss knife he’d accidentally brought along.

He places the object right on the table, and Hoshi regards it with interest. 

“Gold and diamonds, just how I like it,” he chimes, before taking the knife for himself and examining it under the light. “What a wonderful gift for wasting my time.”

DK cocks the gun, and Jungwoo descends to his knees. “Please, Hoshi-ssi, please. We come to you, humbly…pleading for your help…we aren’t looking for trouble…”

Hoshi doesn’t bother looking at the other men, far too engrossed with his shiny new tool.

“ _Please…Hoshi-ssi…please!!!_ ”

“How much do you want?!” 

Everyone turns to Mark, who’d slammed his hands onto Hoshi’s desk and shouted right in his face. DK glares at him and aims the gun at him instead, but what Mark had done worked, because now, the mafia boss is leering at him and looks just about ready to blow his brains out.

“Sit down, you fucking cocksuckers,” Hoshi speaks irritably and waves at his assistant to put the gun away.

Their three guests wordlessly scramble to the nearest chair.

The boss flicks the knife open and deftly flips it around with his fingers, before pointing it at Mark, and the boy takes it as a sign to start talking again. “Name your price, and we’ll be happy to pay you every single won.” 

“Do I look like I _need_ your money?” Hoshi asks with a crossed expression, canting back into his chair.

This time, it’s Dongyoung who answers. “Of course not…but we know your… _services_ come with a hefty price.”

“And what _services_ are you asking for?”

Dongyoung elbows Jungwoo - the one who’d actually requested to see the Gyeonggi boss in the first place, and the chaebol gulps back in nervousness. “Seulgi, my…friend…Kang Seulgi. You know Seulgi right, Hosh-ssii? You attended her wedding. She and I both grew up in Seoul, and Seoul will always be under your protection…so I just- I…I…”

Hoshi is already bored and playing with the scotch tape on his desk, winding the sticky film around his finger.

Mark whispers to Jungwoo through gritted teeth. “Cut to the chase, man…before he has us all castrated.”

His poor friend is red in the face and winded, ready to pass out or piss himself, whichever happened first.

“I want you to kill her husband,” Jungwoo blurts out loudly. 

The blond mafia boss cuts the tape with his new swiss knife and balls the long film into his palm. “So you want me - number one geondal boss in the region of Gyeonggi, _most respected and most feared_ \- to kill Kang Seulgi’s husband, Cho Kyuhyun.”

Jungwoo grimaces at the mention of the Yeongnam associate. “Y-Yes, Hoshi-ssi… I knew the Jeon Family of Gwandong wouldn’t give a shit about her, and so I told my brothers that we needed to come to you, _the most merciful and generous geondal boss_ , for help…to get rid of Cho.”

“Why would I do that? Cho Kyuhyun is a powerful ally of the Choi Family _in Yeongnam_. He’s under their protection, and it wouldn’t benefit me in any way to kill him.”

“H-He’s not _blood_ though, like you and I…a-and Seulgi _._ So he’s not untouchable…to you and your geondal.”

Blood protects blood. _Always._ That’s the Gyeonggi boss’s promise to his loyal followers and allies. 

Hoshi raises a brow. “Are you really _blood_ , Jungwoo? Because when was the last time you invited me to your house in Chuncheon?”

Jungwoo stutters, unable to come up with an excuse, and sweat drips down his temples. 

Mark warily takes over the conversation once more. “Cho has been cheating on Seulgi…and he’s hit her a few times. Jungwoo has seen the bruises. Yeongnam is hurting a child of Gyeonggi, and now, we come to you for justice.”

The geondal boss chuckles from how hard they’re trying. “Justice you say? Isn’t Kang Seulgi still alive though?”

“She might not be for long,” Dongyoung adds. “Cho Kyuhyun’s been canoodling with Song Qian, the actress from China.”

Mark nods. “Jungwoo thinks he might have Seulgi assassinated so he can remarry. A divorce is always messier than a funeral.”

“All this is just speculation on your part though,” Hoshi comments, resting his chin on his palm and smirking at the three men. 

“Better to act now than wait for it to actually happen,” Mark continues. “So how much will it cost for you to get rid of Cho?”

The blond male blinks at him, smile leaving his lips. “I don’t know what I ever did to you to be disrespected like this.”

He stands up and moves around his desk, ambling his way to Mark with a very displeased countenance. “Open your mouth.”

The wide-eyed, young man complies hesitantly, and the ball of tape is shoved into his orifice. 

“That’s a souvenir for you. Now shut the fuck up or I’ll have DK shoot you.” He turns to Dongyoung next, eyes piercing into the red-haired boy’s soul. “One word from that pie hole, and I’ll make you suck DK off.”

The assistant eyes his boss in contempt but says nothing to refute his threats. 

Hoshi leans back onto the desk, looking down directly at Jungwoo. “ _You_ asked to see me, and you bring these two window-lickers from Gwandong to speak for you. Only fucking pussies need someone else to talk for them.”

“I’m sorry, Hoshi-ssi…”

“You come to me on this _very busy day_ , demanding I kill someone in exchange for money and claiming you’re _blood_ when you don’t even want anything to do with my geondal.”

“Please, Hoshi-ssi, I’ll give you anything…I…I’ll do anything you ask of me,” Jungwoo implores. “Just please, please help Seulgi. Free her from her abusive marriage. Kill Cho before he kills her.”

“There you go again, yapping away about what you claim is justice. You’re not showing me respect. You’re not offering friendship. You don’t even have the decency to call me hyungnim. Instead, you come to me like the spoiled dickhead you are and expect me to commit murder on your behalf.”

Jungwoo trembles and stays quiet, head bowed in shame.

Hoshi rolls his eyes at the pitiful display of a man before him and clicks his tongue. He has half the mind to throw Jungwoo and his friends out of his estate (and not through the door), but something gnaws at his toes, urging him to have a little _sympathy_ for poor Seulgi. The girl had no say in her marriage, and Hoshi had seen the way she bawled her eyes out throughout the ceremony. None of the men in her family cared, and if she’d been born his sister, he would’ve dismembered Cho himself if Kyuhyun as much as _looked_ at another woman. 

So he ponders for a moment and decides to indulge Jungwoo’s entreaty. “If you had come to me seeking friendship, Cho would be buried in the dirt right now. If you were to make enemies in the future…well, they’d become my enemies too. People would _fear_ you. People would _respect_ you, because they’d know you’re a _geondal son_. You’re _Gyeonggi blood_ …and _when Seulgi becomes a widow_ , who do you think will be powerful enough to become her second husband?”

The chaebol’s eyes widen in comprehension, and he stands up and takes Hoshi’s hand in his. “Be my friend… _hyungnim_?”

He kisses the platinum ring on the geondal boss’s pinky finger, throwing away any ounce of pride he had out the window. Through the gesture, he’s cemented his place as an ally of the mafia boss and an associate in his malevolent regime. 

Hoshi arrogantly regards him with acceptance, patting him on the back and leading him out the door. “One of these days, it will be my turn to call upon your service. Say no, and you will be dead to me…literally. In the meantime, accept this _justice_ as a token of my promise. _Blood protects blood_ , and I’ll make sure no one lays a finger on your beautiful Seulgi ever again.”

“Thank you, hyungnim,” Jungwoo says meekly, a small smile accompanying his relief.

“See you at the funeral,” the blond slyly imparts.

“A-and the wedding, if she would have me…”

“Trust me, her father would have no reason to oppose this time around.” 

No one denies anything the mafia wants, especially the Gyeonggi geondal. 

DK ushers all of them out the door, with Mark still holding the ball of tape in his mouth, as Hoshi cheerfully goes through his contacts to make a call.

The8 gracefully approaches him with a frown, light footsteps practiced into complete silence - an unsettling little perk that came with the training for his current job. “Hyungnim, are you really going to kill Cho Kyuhyun?”

“Of course not. I’m not stupid, The8. That’s what debts are for, and a certain someone in Yeongnam owes me _big time_ ,” Hoshi chirps, before pulling at a reddish strand of the assassin’s perfectly styled hair. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

The geondal boss puts his phone next to his ear, ignoring the ringing in favor of listening to sound of The8’s gagging. “You’re not my type, _Soonyoungie_.”

“You’re not my type either, _Hao Hao_. That’s why I whore you off to Wen Junhui for cold hard cash.” Hoshi cheekily grins at his second-in-command and laughs conceitedly at the exasperation in The8’s face.

“I’m poisoning your wine later,” the assassin warns him before slipping out the door.

But Hoshi pays him no heed, because The8 has always been all bark and no bite. He’s also pretty sure that The8’s been secretly in love with him since they were kids (probably not but Hoshi likes to tease him about it anyway). 

Finally, the ringing stops, and an exuberant voice greets him on the other line. “Nene Chicken! May I take your order?”

“Ah, Bangchannie! It’s your favorite hyungie!” the blond replies in delight. “I’m so hungry! Can I order three boxes of yangnyeom chicken please?”

Vernon - the trainee DK is assigned to look after - drops onto the floor from a ceiling vent he’d managed to open without a sound. He lands on his feet with caution and tiptoes his way to the assistant as quietly as possible. 

DK is on the computer, vehemently clacking away and completely focused on his task at hand. 

The trainee creeps up behind him, slowly and carefully, and whispers in DK’s ear, “Can we order some pizza too, hyung?”

He expects DK to jump out of his seat, maybe scream like a little girl if he was lucky.

But no, the violet-haired male doesn’t even flinch. He doesn’t even look at Vernon, because he’d known where he was hiding the entire time.

“ _First of all_ , you failed your test. I could hear your fucking breathing through the vent. So, no, you can’t have any pizza.”

Before Vernon can start complaining, DK beats him to it by cutting him off. “ _Secondly_ , hyungnim’s not ordering chicken. He’s setting up a meeting with the Yeongnam boss.”

“Setting up a meeting?” The trainee scratches his head in confusion, further messing up his blue and white dyed curls. “With yangnyeom chicken…with the Yeongnam boss? _What_?”

DK lets it all sink in, hoping their new recruit can figure things out without someone explaining every little thing to him. His prayers are answered when, in a matter of 17 seconds, Vernon’s face lights up like a christmas tree.

He gapes in awe and excitement. “Wait! Oh! Ohhhhhhh….oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Hyungnim’s using a code!”

_Thank goodness this kid has a brain._

“Exactly. Which leads us to lesson number two - the enemy is always listening. Never reveal who and where you’re meeting for business. _Especially_ on the phone.”

The Seoul investigators absolutely love wiretapping Hoshi’s phone calls, and on his computer screen, DK can see their software tapping into other mob bosses’ calls as well. It would take the authorities at least a decade to decrypt their messages. That’s how foolproof the Jeon Family designed their codes to be.

“Wait, what was lesson number one again?”

“ _Don’t get caught._ Which you just failed miserably,” DK grumbles. 

“But, hyung, you were the only one who even noticed me,” Vernon whines as he stretches. His back and limbs are sore from being in a cramped space for so long.

The assistant finally turns around to glare at his protege. “That’s the problem. _I noticed you._ You’d be hanging by your toe nails right now if you’d gone into enemy territory at this skill level.”

Vernon grins at him and rests his chin on top of DK’s head, laughing and pinching his earlobes like a _fucking child_. “Well that’s what you’re here for…right, hyung? To teach me your ways?”

“Unfortunately,” DK groans, wondering how he’s going to survive the next few months putting up with Hoshi _and_ this kid at the same time.

* * *

Mingyu is kind enough to let his employees go home first and close up shop by himself for the day. 

It was a grueling 16 hours of prepping and cooking non-stop, but _Diciassette_ has been slowly but surely gaining more popularity among the residents of Seoul. 

The restaurant, which he’d been dreaming of opening since he was 10, specializes in Southern Italian cuisine and offers casual dining on the first floor, while more intimate and private fine dining areas are available on the second floor. 

As much as he’d love to go home to his husband early every night, _Diciasette_ is still too new for him to be less hands-on, but Mingyu hopes that would change soon. Soonyoung doesn’t deserve a husband who’s barely at home and can only get back at 2 in the morning everyday.

But until his restaurant starts earning actual profit instead of breaking even, he’s going to have to keep working late. 

Mingyu leaves through the back and makes sure the doors are securely locked before starting his walk to their apartment.

The streets are pretty much empty, since most shops already closed more than thirty minutes ago. 

His dark hair is smoothed back into a small ponytail. He’s draped in a brown trench coat and a black scarf, treading back home with his hands in his pockets and his nose buried in his scarf to shield himself from the cold. It’s not a long walk back, and it’s mostly safe to be alone at night. But every now and then, kkangpae goons come out and harass people at this time. 

Two blocks into his journey home (much to his luck), a rowdy pack of drunk thugs are staggering towards him. Mingyu recognizes them. They’re the same hoodlums who’ve been going from restaurant to restaurant, collecting money in exchange for “protection” from rivaling gangs. It’s only a matter of time before they start coercing him into paying too.

He keeps his head hung low, avoiding eye contact at all costs. His height usually intimidates people, so he hopes it’s enough to keep them away.

It works. They pass by, jeering at him, but don’t approach.

However, the man behind the group - the last one to stare him up and down - spots a flicker of gold and sparkle on his left wrist.

“Hold up, guys,” he says, and the rest of them stop and turn around.

Mingyu glares at the man, who’s wearing a beanie and a letterman jacket, and keeps walking. But the goons circle around him and block his way.

“Let me through,” he speaks loud and clear. 

One of the men cackles. “We just wanna talk, man.”

“Yeah, that’s a nice looking bracelet you got there, pretty boy,” the guy he glared at comments. 

Another man, with a tattoo above his brow and most likely the gang’s leader, steps into his personal bubble.

“Hand it over,” he drawls. The smoke from his cigarette rises into the air between them.

Mingyu scowls at the tattooed man. “I _can’t_.”

“What was that?!” a boisterous member yells. 

“Fucking retard!” someone else cries out.

There’s six of them in total and only one of him. He knows it’s better to give the bracelet up than to fight back. But he doesn’t have the screwdriver to take it off, and Mingyu would be damned if he’s gonna take them back to where Soonyoung is.

The leader growls at him and throws his cigarette to the ground. 

“Do you have any idea who we are?!” he roars. “We’re the Gyeonggi boss’s men! We rule these streets, you fucking cunt! Give me the fucking bracelet!”

He pushes at Mingyu, and the chef furiously pushes him back. “I said _I can’t take it off_.”

The rest of the kkangpae takes hold of his limbs, pushing him onto on his knees, and a dirty hand covers his mouth. 

Mingyu tries to scream for help, and they jostle him to shut him up, cursing at him and screeching threats into his ears. Two of them have a firm grip on his left arm and shove the sleeves up to put the bracelet on full display. They all look at it like hungry vultures.

“Well then, I guess we’re gonna have to cut your thumb off to get it.” 

The leader swipes open a tactical knife.

His eyes widen, and he struggles against their hold, tumbling to the ground. He attempts to crawl away, but they reach for him again and roll him onto his stomach. The gang members sit on his back and legs and bend his right arm back so two of them can seize his left arm again.

Out of the corner of his eyes, a seventh member comes running up their leader. “Wait! Hyung, wait!”

The young boy, maybe barely even fourteen, whispers something in the kkangpae leader’s ear. Mingyu can hardly hear what the kid is saying, but he catches some of it. “ _…Said not to touch him…he’s the restaurant owner…Gyeonggi….they’ll kill us…_ ”

The tattooed man immediately curses. “Shit! Let’s get the fuck outta here!”

His men follow, although questioningly, before they get off of Mingyu. They run off to the opposite end of the street, and the chef staggers to his feet and sprints for one of the side streets.

He slides next to a dumpster and leans against it to steady his breathing.

Mingyu is panting and trembling from rage, but he’s thankful that the kid had come just in time. If the boy showed up a minute too late, he would’ve had to go home drenched in blood, and that’s not a sight he would ever want Soonyoung to see.

He regains his calm respirations after a few seconds, and the grip he has on his knees loosen. He extends his legs and looks down at the bracelet on his wrist. It glistens back at him and reminds him of the husband he still needs to get home to - his poor, sickly husband who's probably wondering why he hasn't come home. 

So he shuffles back to his feet and resumes his quiet voyage. 

Mingyu thinks his share of thrill for the night is over, but it’s not. He takes a detour off the main street, which is his first mistake, and spots a masked person with a gun pointing at a cowering man in the alley.

He rushes behind a pile of trash bags and covers his mouth with his hands, heart palpitating wildly against his ribcage. 

Then, he hears the pull of the trigger and the thud of a body hitting the ground.

* * *

“His name was Lee Eunwang.”

Mingyu feels dizzy. He’s been sitting at the police station for 2 hours now, exhausted and worried about what time he can get home to Soonyoung. He hopes the writer won’t be too mad at him for coming home later than normal. No doubt he's worried sick, and he couldn't find it in himself to tell his husband where he is exactly. Soonyoung doesn't need that added stress. 

“So he’s…that’s the man who died?” he asks, fiddling with the cup of coffee in his hands. The caffeine isn’t really kicking in, and Mingyu swears he can go to sleep on the floor right now if they let him.

“Yes,” the investigator, Mr. Han, replies. His hands shift through file after file, laying out only those relevant to the current case.

He’d already spoken to the police enforcers just a few minutes ago, telling them everything he’d seen, but they still wouldn’t let him go without talking to this specific person.

Mingyu rubs at his eyes. “And what about the….the…”

“Killer?”

He’s not a professional like Mr. Han. He doesn’t like using those kinds of words, describing those kinds of people, on a daily basis. “Y-Yeah.”

“His name is Park Seonghwa. 20 years old. Dropped out of SNU to join the Gyeonggi geondal.”

Putting a name to the murderer made his insides churn, even if there was no reason for him to fear the man. He hadn’t even seen Park Seonghwa’s face, but knowing that a monster had been hiding in the shadows, so close to where he and his husband lived, made his skin crawl.

“If it’s okay to ask…why did he- how could he just…kill someone?”

“Boss’s orders, he said. Park Seonghwa was just a foot soldier.” It’s unnerving how casual Mr. Han is speaking, but Mingyu guesses that it comes with a job that deals with victims and perpetrators everyday. “And he couldn’t say no to the head honcho of the Gyeonggi geondal.”

Mingyu bites the inside of his cheek. “So that’s his excuse for killing someone out in the open?”

The moment Park Seonghwa’s gun had gone off, someone had contacted the authorities, and the police were there within minutes. They were able to intercept the killer as he was attempting his escape, and they’d found the body…and Mingyu hiding behind an abandoned car, appearing pale and shaken by what had just happened.

“That’s what he told us. We didn’t even have to threaten him. The guy was already talking about a plea deal by the time I got here.”

He’d watched enough movies to know what that meant. “So he snitched?” 

“Park Seonghwa sang like a little bird.” Mr. Han puts away the rest of his files in a briefcase, before returning his attention to the blurred photographs and type-writer documents on the table. “He told us everything he knew about the Ryu Family.”

Mingyu furrows his brows. “Ryu? Like Ryu Seungryeong? From Miracle in Cell No.7?”

“No!” Mr. Han grunts, face twisted in vexation. “Ryu, as in Ryu Sangwook of the Ryu Crime Family. Does that ring a bell?”

He pauses, looking pensive, before answering. “I dont think I’ve ever heard of him…”

The investigator places a black and white photo of a handsome, middle-aged man in front of Mingyu. Right below it, the name Ryu Sangwook is written in black marker. “He used to be capo dei capi - the boss of all bosses in the Gyeonggi region…until his replacement took over. He’s been dodging our radar ever since.”

“Who was his replacement?”

“We don’t know his real identity yet, but according to Park, the boss goes by the name ‘Hoshi'.”

Another photo is placed in front of him, but the man in the picture’s face is obscured by a black medical mask and large-framed glasses. Mingyu can see a bit his dyed hair sticking out from underneath his cap, but the image isn’t clear enough for him to distinguish anything else. 

“And this...Hoshi guy wanted Lee Eunwang killed?”

“Yes, and we need to find out why. Lee Eunwang wasn’t just a random person off the street. He was a journalist - probably knew something the Ryu Family needed to hide, and we were lucky enough to detain Park Seonghwa before he could escape.”

Mingyu doesn’t take his eyes off the picture of ‘Hoshi’. His fingers smooth over the photo, itching to tear it up as muted fury bubbled in his chest. 

Here he is, wasting time away from his husband, because of _this_ person in front of him.

“So what now, Mr. Han?” Mingyu tries hide the irked tone in his voice, but the fatigue clouding his mind is chipping away at the politeness and patience in him.

“Right now, I’m about to give you a quick lesson on the South Korean mafia groups.”

The long-haired man lifts his head, drowsy and dazed and even more confused than before. “I beg your pardon, you’re going to do what?”

Mr. Han doesn’t give him much time to recover. “There are four major crime families running operations around the six regions of South Korea. The _Jeon Family_ of Gwandong, very old and very much involved with politics in that area. The _Choi Family_ runs the Yeongnam region, that’s been their territory for decades. Then you’ve got the _Kan Family_ in Jeju. It’s a fortress down there. None of our agents have ever been able to successfully penetrate the ranks and gather intel.”

“Great,” he mutters sarcastically. “So that leaves us with the Ryu Family…”

“You’re on the right track. The Ryu Family controls Hoseo, Honam, _and_ Gyeonggi. They’re that powerful, and they’re that terrifying. The Min and Gong families used to have possession over Hoseo and Honam, but they’ve already been forced out by the new Gyeonggi boss.”

Mingyu squints at the investigator, the exhaustion weighing his eyelids down. He really just wants to go home now. “Okay...so why are you telling me all this?”

“Because we need your help, Kim Mingyu-ssi,” Mr. Han says. All the files are laid out in front of Mingyu, with each family name written down on the manila folders. They’re there for him to read if he desired, and Mingyu’s not sure how he’s supposed to feel about that. “We need you to infiltrate the Ryu Family, so we can uncover the big boss’s identity and bring him to justice once and for all.”

None of this is making sense to him. 

“Okay, you want me - _a chef_ …. not a trained police officer, _but a chef_ who’s never even held a gun before, _if that’s helpful_ , to do what? Join the mafia? Go undercover and kill the boss of the Gyeonggi geondal?” Mingyu wails in disbelief. “Are you seriously asking me to take down a criminal organization I’ve only heard about two seconds ago?! Because that’s insane! You can’t seriously expect me to do something like that!”

“We’re not asking you to kill the boss, Kim Mingyu-ssi. We know this sounds dangerous, and we would never just ask a regular civilian such as yourself like this…” Mr. Han looks frustrated and just as exhausted as Mingyu is. “But we’re running out of time and resources, Mingyu-ssi, and we just got a tip that could help get us inside that geondal.”

He’s talking about the case so freely that it’s setting off all the warning signs in Mingyu’s head. He doesn’t want to get involved in whatever this is, but he’s so so tired, and he just wants to get this over with and go home to Soonyoung.

“And what tip is that?” he asks reluctantly and irritatedly.

“The boss has a thing for male prostitutes. Tall, tanned, and muscular. Always the same profile. He hires them sporadically, never at the same place, and he never scouts them himself.”

Mingyu’s the slightest bit grateful that Mr. Han thinks he fits the description of tall, tanned, and muscular, but it doesn’t feel like a compliment knowing that the label is attached to the word ‘prostitute’. “So, you guys are expecting to me to… _have sex with the Gyeonggi boss?!_ ”

“No, no! That’s not what we’re asking for, Kim Mingyu-ssi,” Mr. Han presses. “Look, my men and I have come up with a plan. We’ll have you go in under a different name, as a newbie in the red light scene. Park Seonghwa says only one man orders the whores for Hoshi. They call him Cheonsa-nim, and he’s a very trusted man in their geondal. We’re going to get you in there under the guise of being Cheonsa-nim’s new recommendation, and once you’re in the same room as the Gyeonggi boss, you’ll slip something into his drink to knock him out before anything can happen. He’ll fall asleep, and that’s when you start taking pictures, fingerprints, and everything you can get to confirm his identity. Once you’ve got everything we need, you’ll leave. We’ll pick you up at a secure location and take you straight home, and I can promise you that we will never bother you again.”

Mr. Han is trying to make it sound easy, but Mingyu knows better than that. “You all seem to be putting way too much trust into that murderer’s words.”

“Men who’re afraid of repercussions squeal the loudest.” The investigator shrugs his shoulders. “The Gyeonggi boss isn’t gonna come for him. No one can get him out of jail, so all he’s got left is the plea deal to save his own ass.”

Mingyu shakes his head. “This is way too much for you to ask of me… I’m sorry, but I have a husband I need to get home to…”

“Yes, Mingyu-ssi, you did mention your husband’s health problems to Officer Hwan earlier. So many medications at such a young age. It surely must be a struggle to pay for all those pills every month.”

“We manage,” is his curt reply. His mouth is going dry, and he has to hold back the sadness from taking over.

“Not as well as you would like though, I presume?”

The man is treading on perilous waters now. Inadequately providing for Soonyoung has always been Mingyu’s sore spot. “What are you getting at, Mr. Han?”

“Help us get what we need, and we will pay you 100,000,000 won for you troubles.”

Mingyu almost stops breathing.

“T-That much money? That’s insane! There’s no way that’s-”

“You and I are both desperate right now,” Mr. Han cuts him off. “For two very different things, yes, but desperate nonetheless. Think of all the ways you can improve your life with that kind of money, Mingyu-ssi. Think of how you can help your husband. It’s going to take a while for you to make that much with just the restaurant to rely on, and it’s not working out as well as you thought it would, is it?”

“No…it’s not…” he mumbles in embarrassment.

“No matter what happens to you during this mission, I assure you that your husband will greatly benefit from the amount we just talked about.” 

Mingyu sighs and glances at the man dangling bait before him. It’s too much. It’s too much to think about, but it feels like a deal ready to flutter away from his grasp if he doesn’t act now.

Mr. Han stares back at him with a keen look in his eyes. “If you were to accept this mission, I swear to you, on my own life, that we won’t let you go in there unarmed and unprepared. We will do everything in our power to keep you and your loved ones safe. We will have people watching your husband 24/7-”

“Wait, please…” Mingyu implores. “I know you mean well, but I don’t want people spying on my husband. I’m already giving him enough stress as it is. I’ll tell him to stay with a friend while I’m gone.”

The last part of his sentence almost puts a smile on Mr. Han’s face. “While you’re gone? Does this mean you accept our proposition, Mingyu-ssi?”

An inevitable ‘yes’ is about to leap from his tongue. What had they expected him to say? _No, I don’t want your money ‘cuz I don’t give a fuck about my husband’s poor and unstable health. Fuck him. I’m not risking my own life for him and the money that could help cover his never-ending medical expenses._

Mingyu loves Soonyoung so much. He can’t even remember what his life was like before meeting him. How had he lived all those years without Soonyoung by his side? How did he even manage to breathe and eat and sleep without such a wonderful person to come home to? 

Mr. Han, the clever investigator that he is, probably knows this…

He probably knows that Mingyu would do just about anything for Soonyoung. 

Literally. 

_Anything._

“Just tell me one last thing…” It’s more than just him. Soonyoung is at risk too. “If the geondal finds out I was here...will they go after my husband?”

The investigator purses his lips. “People like ‘Hoshi’ are typically heartless. Geondal bosses in general aren’t really known for their philanthropy.”

His answer is not at all reassuring.

The back of Mingyu’s tongue tastes bitter. “So, he would then? He would kill _an innocent man_ , who’s done _nothing wrong_ his entire life?”

“That kind of thing happens everyday, Mingyu-ssi,” Mr. Han discloses solmenly. “The geondal kills whoever they please. That’s why we need to stop them, to protect innocent people like your husband.”

He’s a little more awake now. His stomach has settled, but his heart is aching in his chest. “But the only way they’ll find out is if my information gets leaked from your files, right?”

“They have their spies too, Mingyu-ssi. I can’t promise you something that’s out of my hands… The geondal is a tricky opponent you see. They fight dirty. That’s how they survive. We survive by outmaneuvering them, thwarting their plans, and striking before they can. We can’t win every war, but we always need to be stronger for the next battle.”

It feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. He’s being given options that seem to both lead towards chaos and doom. He doesn’t want the geondal boss to go after him and find out who he is, but he can’t deny the opportunity Mr. Han has given him.

The older man can see the melancholy in his face. “Kim Mingyu-ssi, I swear to you, we will protect your identity as best as we can, and with your help, we can save countless of lives… Even if they never find out who you really are, your husband will always be a potential victim for as long as these mafias thrive.”

At one point in his life, before his love for cooking blossomed, Mingyu thought he’d grow up to become a detective. Or maybe even a superhero.

However, those dreams had disappeared the moment he’d found his true calling. Over the years, he’d slowly grown up, and he thought he’d finally matured enough when he married Soonyoung.

But, apparently, he’s still not done living with his childish fantasies, and it’s so shameful.

Opening up a restaurant had been a mistake. He can’t help his husband through cooking. He can’t help his husband with a frying pan and a whisk.

Mingyu needs to grow up again and finally become a husband Soonyoung could be proud of.

Mr. Han had given him the push he needed to go through with this.

_Protect his husband…_ He needs to protect his husband from these people.

“Okay…” he utters in defeat.

The investigator’s lips curl slightly. “What was that, Mingyu-ssi?”

“I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts as usual:  
> 1.) Hoshi and The8 grew up and trained together under the Ryu Family.  
> 2.) When Hoshi said he whores The8 out to Wen Junhui for cold hard cash, he meant it. Can y'all guess which geondal Jun is in?  
> 3.) The Bangchan who works for "Nene Chicken" is not from Stray Kids but our Lee Chan :) Can y'all guess who his boss is?  
> 4.) This whole fic started because Hoshi wore that Pororo bandaid. Who would've thought this would be the product of such a simple thing?  
> 5.) I hope nobody feels bad for DK because he actually volunteered to be Hoshi's assistant and he loves his job.  
> 6.) Vernon got recruited randomly one day cuz he was trying to pickpocket Hoshi and failed miserably. However, Hoshi still took him in and gave him to DK to train.  
> 7.) Hoshi is really vicious in his drive to take over as many regions as possible, but he doesn't disturb the other regions under his friends out of respect.  
> 8.) Lastly, Hoshi likes to wear some of Mingyu's clothes to work 'cuz he loves sharing clothes with his hubby.
> 
> More fun facts will come at you as the story progresses! Kudos and comments are love!!!!!


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